Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of death in Sweden. Researchers at LiU have found a way to detect these diseases in time, which can ease suffering and save money. For the individual, this may be life changing. The researchers’ solution now needs to be further developed to make a difference worldwide.

Portrait of professor Anders Persson
Photographer: Jenny Widén
Every year 20,000 people in Sweden suffer from acute heart attacks. Half of them have not even experienced any symptoms. And one-quarter of them die within a month.
It doesn’t have to be like this, according to Anders Persson, professor and director of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization (CMIV) at Linköping University. Together with colleagues, he has developed a method for fast, accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular disease.

“We know how these diseases can be predicted in a way that forgoes unnecessary examination and allows more people to survive. Finding those who need treatment, and also knowing exactly what kind of treatment they need, in time – that is our vision. This will prevent a lot of suffering and save lots of money”, says Anders Persson.

Using a new type of CT scanner, a picture of a single heartbeat is taken, with a low dose of radiation and very high resolution. The collected image information is then further processed in fast computers, where blood flow can be simulated and quantified using artificial intelligence, among other things. Together with the patient’s genetic material and data from the world’s most comprehensive survey of heart disease patients, this may in the future provide the necessary information for assessing a patient’s acute condition, and effectively predicting future risks.

“The benefit to patients from our research is enormous! But the research is expensive. It’s crucial that we get help from more people wanting to join the fight against the most common cause of death”, says Anders Persson.


What we want to enable

With your support, we can recruit research X-ray nurses and research engineers needed to develop the researchers’ solution, so that it can make a difference in healthcare.
We can also recruit a senior researcher who will have the opportunity to build their own research group and can broaden and complement the foundation that has already been laid.

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